Zadar Riviera

Many citizens of Zadar will gladly bathe on one of the town beaches, however for the real feeling of connecting with the sea, its nicer to go to some of the places on the Zadar riviera. The furthest and most northern is Novigrad, the small historical town located on the southern coast of the Novigrad sea, the longest bay which is connected with the open sea by a narrow channel – Ždrilo. This is a charming fishing village with a few valuable medieval monuments, however the thing that is interesting to visitors is infact the Novigrad sea into which runs the Zrmanja river. Because of the flow of fresh water and the extremely cleanliness of the sea, here is the only place in the Adriatic where mussels live in natural colonies.

Although there are parts of the coast which are steep and unreachable, the sea is populated with different beaches, from sandy and pebbled ones, to those that are well maintained. Given that here, because of the limited accomodation capacity, there aren't too many tourists, so you will easily find a place on your own. Although it is a little bit remote, the island of Vir is also included in the Zadar riviera, given that it is joined by bridge with the mainland at the Privlaka peninsula. In the summer its a very merry place full of private appartments, however Vir also offers beautiful hidden beaches and quiet walks for a comfortable family holiday. Zaton is found in between Nin and Zadar in the same named bay of the Zadar channel. Famous for its touristic settlement, located in a beautiful pine forest with an excellent beach, partly sandy, partly pebbled, equipped with a variety of entertainment activities especially for kids, and it offers a whole array of sporting activities.

Closer to Zadar there is a village of Petrčane, a picturesque little place which also has a tourist complex which offers all the needed facilities – a pine forest, a pebbled beach with a sandy seabed, maintained footpaths, restaurants and cafes, and here is a club in which during the summer the Garden festival of club music. The beach and footpaths extend all the way to the heart of the place where you can dine well in some of the traditional konobas (restaurants). South of Zadar, towards Biograd, is Bibinje, a charming little tourist place with beaches, seaside walks, konobas, restaurants and cafes. Between Bibinje and neighbouring Sukošana is located one of the biggest and best equipped marinas in the Adriatic – The Dalmatia Marina – which apart from standard mooring adn the most modern equipment, has berths for megayachts and its own beach.Sukošan is one of the most indented places in the Zadar riviera. It extends from the Zlatna Luka and the Dalmatia Marina to the nature complex of Tustica. Here are a large number of bays, little docks and beaches. In the bay in the centre of the town you will find an unusual spectacle – the remains of the Archbishops' summerhouse Palac from the 15th century which emerges from the sea. Aside from that, Sukošan has a few valuable buildings from the 15th century and later. Along the Sukošan coast there are a few beautiful beaches among whom the most popular are Dječji Raj (Children's heaven), a shallow sandy beach equipped with all the necessary resources, Zlatna Luka, the Makarska beach and a large number of smaller bays.

The archipelago of Zadar is an area with the highest density of islands in the Adriatic, counting more than three hundred islands, islets and rocks and confirming Croatia’s known motto of being a “country of a thousand islands". Geographically, Zadar is the central point of the Croatian part of the Adriatic, making Istria, Split or Dubrovnik, as well as the Plitvice Lakes and Zagreb easy to reach from there. Within the region of Zadar or in its immediate vicinity, there are some of the most beautiful national parks, for example NP Krka, NP Plitvice, NP Paklenica, NP Kornati, NP Risnjak, but also nature parks Telašćica and Biokovo. Zadar and the places in its surrounding are therefore perfect starting points for excursions to the natural beauties of Croatia. If you also take into account the fact that the city of Zadar is called the "city of museums", do you need more reasons to visit?